As the warm sunlight stretches through the bare tree branches at The Piedmont Environmental Council’s Warrenton office, Hans and Anne Wachtmeister huddle in the yard for a picture. With a smiling face, Hans holds up a sign that reads, “This property is forever protected with a conservation easement.”

This sign will find its place amongst the expansive views of Belmont Farm where cattle meander through soft rolling grasslands, clear streams lace their way through the woodlands and, off in the distance, the Blue Ridge mountains jut into a placid blue sky. This is the second sign the Wachtmeisters add to their landscape to accompany the picturesque views of Fauquier County’s farmland — a symbol that this sanctuary will be here in perpetuity.

Hans and Ann affectionately call their home “a piece of heaven,” and rightfully so. In 2022 they completed their first conservation easement, also held by PEC, to protect 381 acres of forest and grassland at Belmont Farm. That piece of heaven expanded this past December when they closed on this conservation easement to protect an additional 177 acres.

Now totalling 558 acres of protected land, the Wachtmeisters’ property adds to a growing green buffer around the Warrenton service district. Neighboring the Wachtmeister property lies the Clifton Institute, Hopefield, The Meadows, and Whitehall Farm, which together create an extensive network of almost 2,185 acres of protected land. This network is home to forested lands, agricultural operations and the headwaters of Cedar Run that deliver clean water to the town of Warrenton, thus benefiting all those in their community who live downstream.

The Wachtmeisters show us that more can always be done to conserve our land and our home, the Virginia Piedmont. Through generous donations of conservation easements, this region’s natural lands can continue to provide our communities with fresh water, clean air and thriving ecosystems that strengthen our quality of life and sense of place well into the future — making the Piedmont a little piece of heaven for all of us who call it home.

This article appeared in the 2025 Spring edition of The Piedmont Environmental Council’s member newsletter, The Piedmont View. If you’d like to become a PEC member or renew your membership, please visit pecva.org/join.